Belgium: Witte Kool in Roomsaus (Shredded Baby Cabbage in Cream Sauce)

Creamed cabbage. Oh dear.

It doesn't sound particularly exciting ... and especially not around here, as EuroCuisineGuy has been at war with the entire Brassica family from a very young age. And not just the cabbage side of the family, either. ECG isn't even wild about mustard, and when he was astonishingly spotted eating the (admittedly wonderful) sesame-oiled flash-grilled cauliflower at Deane's in Belfast, his profoundly skeptical mother suggested that the BBC (just around the corner) should have been asked to send in a camera crew for verification purposes.

In retrospect, this was understandable. Way too much overboiled big-head cabbage, way too many school lunches where the air was full of the persistent reek of broken cabbage-y sulfur bonds, have turned EuroCuisineGuy into one of the many who leave the room muttering when the word "cabbage" is mentioned.

But not today.

During a shopping trip meant to prepare for a picture-taking session involving côtelettes de porc a la Flamande, EuroCuisineLady more or less accidentally acquired a small and handsome young cabbage labeled "Sweet Heart", grown in Spain. A little searching reveals that this is a newish cabbage variety; "sweethearts" are also called pointed cabbage, hearted cabbage, Duchy cabbage, and hispi. Anyway, the cabbage came home, and became part of this recipe adapted from one in van Waerebeek's Everybody Eats Well in Belgium.

The recipe involves shredding or finely chopping the cabbage, boiling it for exactly three minutes, draining it, spreading it into a buttered casserole, pouring cream over it, grinding over it fresh nutmeg and black pepper, and baking it for fifteen minutes. Any recipe that simple already has a lot going for it.

EuroCuisineLady proceeded stealthily, doing the slicing and brief cabbage-boiling without saying anything to EuroCuisineGuy about what she was doing until the dish was in the oven. "Smells good," she said. EuroCuisineGuy, amazingly, agreed.

This was encouraging. The casserole came out of the oven, and looked and smelled terrific. It was sampled, found super, then dished out and photographed. And then, "What do you think it is?" said EuroCuisineLady.

EuroCuisineGuy (who was upstairs at the time) said he didn't know. EuroCuisineLady told him. EuroCuisineGuy was very surprised. And then -- encouraged to eat it -- he did. And he liked it. Cries of "Hey Mikey!" filled the air, and these had to be explained to ECG, as he has never seen a Quaker Life commercial.

No matter. If you are acquainted with a cabbage hater, this is the recipe to try. Among cabbage recipes, it is a veritable Rolls-Royce.

Click "read more" for the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 small cabbage, preferably a "sweetheart" variety: or any baby cabbage

• Salt to taste
• 1 cup heavy / whipping cream
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste
• Freshly ground nutmeg to taste
• 4 tablespoons butter
• Optional: Ground dried chilies to taste

Preheat oven to 400F / 200C. Generously butter a 2-quart casserole or large baking dish.

Pull off the outer leaves of the cabbage. Halve it and cut out the core. With a sharp knife or the shredding disc of a food processor, shred the cabbage thinly.

Bring to the boil a large pot of salted water. When it comes to a rolling boil, throw in the shredded cabbage. Stir a few times until the water returns to the boil. Allow to boil for three minutes. Remove immediately and drain well.

Turn into the buttered casserole. Pour the cream over. Grate or grind over the nutmeg: grind over the pepper: add a few grinds of dried chilies, if liked. Dot with the butter.

Bake for 15 minutes, or a little longer (if the cabbage has not absorbed most of the cream by then).

Serve immediately. Serves 6, or 3 or 4 cabbage fans.